The International Polo Club Palm Beach saw four teams
battle it out to seal a berth in the semifinals on Sunday, April
15th.
Valiente and Daily Racing Form having topped their
brackets were given an automatic qualification to the semi
finals.
The first game took place between FlexJet (Melissa Ganzi
A, Nico Pieres 8, Gonzalito Pieres 9, Rodrigo Andrade 9)
and Audi (Marc Ganzi 2, Nic Roldan 8, Polito Pieres 10,
Mike Azzaro 6). The first chukker saw the teams tied at 1-1
but the lead shifted at half time in favour of Audi with the
score being 6-3. But Flexjet inspired by Gonzalito Pieres
scored five goals to take the lead. But a strong comeback by
Audi in the final chukker saw the game go into overtime.
Flexjet won the match thanks to Nico Pieres who converted
a penalty in overtime to book a place for his team in the
semi finals.
The second match saw Colorado (Rob Jornayvaz 1, Juan
Britos 7, Magoo Laprida 8, Diego Cavanagh 9) take on US
Polo Assn. (Grant Ganzi 2, Juancito Bollini 4, Juan Martin
Nero 10, Alejandro Novillo Astrada 8) on Field 1. The first
half saw both the teams fighting with all they had to get the
last semifinal spot, and at the end of the third chukker, it was
US Polo Assn. with a 5-3 lead over Colorado. However, at
the end of the fifth chukker, Colorado , thanks to Cavanagh,
tied the game at 6-6. The final chukker was as intense as
they get, as Nero had a golden opportunity to put his team
ahead with a penalty, but couldn’t convert. Nero made
amends soon after as he received a second opportunity to
score through a penalty shot, and this time he succeeded
and won the game for US Polo Assn. 9-8.
Semi finals
After an action packed day of quarterfinals, the US Open reached its semi final stage.
The semi finals took place on April 18th, with DRF Bets taking on US Polo Assn. in the first match, while Valiente took on Flexjet in the second semi final.
In the first semi final, DRF Bets got the better of US Polo Assn. in a thrilling contest by 11 goals to 8.
Daily Racing Form featuring Jared Zenni (5), Agustin Obregon (5), Hilario Ulloa (10) and Mariano Obregon (6) took on US Polo Assn. featuring Grant Ganzi (2), Juancito Bollini (4), Alejandro Novillo Astrada (8) and Juan MartÃn Nero (10).
Despite US Polo Assn. good form, DRF Bets got off to a good start and had a 6-1 lead at halftime. US Polo Assn. showed some fighting spirit in the next two chukkers and the score going into the final chukker was 11-7 in favour of DRF Bets. DRF Bets held on to their lead and won the match by 11 goals to 8, thereby progressing into the finals of the US Open.
In the second semi final, Valiente beat Flexjet comfortably by 17 goals to 9 to progress into the finals of the US Open. Valiente featuring Bob Jornayvaz (2), Tommy Beresford (4), Facundo Pieres (10) and Adolfo Cambiaso (10) took on FlexJet featuring Melissa Ganzi , Nico Pieres (8), Gonzalito Pieres (9) and Rodrigo Andrade (9).
Adolfo Cambiaso and Facundo Pieres inspired Valiente to achieve a massive 10-2 lead at halftime. Flexjet showed some spirit in the final three chukkers but there was no stopping Valiente as they scored seven more goals to win the match by 17 goals to 9, maintaining their winning streak and progressed into the finals of the US Open.
The two unbeaten teams will feature in the finals of the 114th US Open on Sunday, April 22nd, 2018 at the International Polo Club Palm Beach, Wellington Florida.
